Sulfuryl Fluoride - CAS No. 2699-79-8
VIKANE. News Reports.
 
 

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This compilation of news reports on VIKANE began on July 22, 2005.
Please share the stories in your local press with us.

Date Article Source
March 25, 2006

Fire in fumigated building prompts 300 to evacuate.

NATIONAL CITY – More than 300 people were evacuated from their homes last night when a three-alarm fire broke out in a D Avenue apartment building filled with fumigation chemicals... Firefighters arrived to see flames coming through the roof. “As we peeled away the tent, we got more active flames,” Condon said. “Our concern was for the Vikane in the smoke,” he said. The thick column of smoke rose straight up into the still night air...

By Pauline Repard.
San Diego UnionTribune (Calif.).
October 11, 2005 October 2005 - NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When pest management professionals arrive in Music City for PestWorld 2005, they will visit the 15th most termite-infested major city in the United States.
Since its inception 10 years ago, the Sentricon® [Hexaflumuron] Termite Colony Elimination System has been installed on more than 76,000 sites throughout the state, a number slightly less than the entire population of Tennessee when it became a state in 1796... At PestWorld 2005,
Dow AgroSciences is sponsoring the Saturday Opening General Session, where attendees will have the opportunity to hear keynote speaker Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security Advisor. 
The Dow AgroSciences booth, themed “Don’t Gamble on Termite Control,” will feature Texas Hold‘em poker and other related activities and giveaways.  Visitors to the booth will have the opportunity to learn about Dow AgroSciences entire portfolio of products, including Vikane® gas fumigant and Halo™ Electronic Termite Detection.
Dow to introduce new products, enhancements at PestWorld 2005.
PCT (Pest Conrol Technology) website.

http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=3779
August 5, 2005

It's not the circus, it's the inn!.

... More than 20 workmen helped swath the 1.2-million-cubic-foot building in rubberized tarps that would contain 350 pounds of Vikane insecticidal gas. First, the Inn would be flooded with chloropicrin, a type of tear gas, to flush out anybody lurking inside and prevent break-ins while the Inn was unoccupied...

The Boca Beacon (Boca Grande, Florida)
August 5, 2005

Police: Woman Found In Fumigated Building Didn't Kill Herself
Detectives Say Safety Guidelines May Have Been Violated

SAN DIEGO -- A police investigation indicated a San Diego woman did not commit suicide when she died inside a condominium that was being fumigated for termites.

The body of the woman was found inside the North Park building in March, hours after fumigators injected a deadly gas.

The president of the Homeowners' Association said Williams must have climbed into the building after it was tented.

The fumigation company said it followed all the safety guidelines.

Homicide detectives, though, now say there may have been violations of state law. They have forwarded the case to the district attorney's office, which may file criminal charges.

The fumigation company did not return phone calls seeking comment.

* Note from FAN: Sulfuryl fluoride VIKANE was used as the fumigant. See articles below: March 9 and March 10, 2005.

NBC SanDiego.com
July 29, 2005

Fines upheld in cat deaths.
Appeal denied; fumigators held responsible.

... Central Coast Exterminator Co. of Salinas was fined $2,750 and Mission City Fumigation Co. of San Jose $2,500 after the agricultural commissioner's office investigated the deaths of neighbors' cats that crawled into clients' houses in Carmel Valley on Sept. 22 and in Carmel on Oct. 6, according to Monterey County Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Bob Roach... At the June hearings, Deputy Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Ken Allen said the two pest control companies failed to follow labeling instructions on the Vikane containers they used...

By Kevin Howe.
Monterey County Herald (California).
July 28, 2005

Teacher forfeits fumigation fight.

... members of the Newport Condominium Assn.'s board are united in their belief that the pesticide Vikane is the only way to eliminate termites in the community... From 1997 through 2001, 32 illnesses or injuries related to sulfuryl fluoride exposure were reported to state authorities, according to a study by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

By Andrew Edwards.
Daily Pilot (California).
July 18, 2005

Termite trouble threatens day care

Condo board orders fumigation, but owner of preschool says toxins could harm children.

By Michael Miller
Daily Pilot (California)
June 28, 2005
By Kevin Howe Monterey County Herald (California)

June 17, 2005

Pest control companies fight fines in deaths of pet cats

Felines were overcome by poisonous gas during fumigation of homes

By KEVIN HOWE
Monterey County Herald (California)
March 10, 2005

Fault is disputed in death, gassing. Woman was inside a tented building.

State officials said it was apparently the third such death in recent years.

By Kristen Green.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (California).
March 9, 2005

Calif. woman dies after building fumigated

SAN DIEGO - A woman died after a fumigation crew pumped toxic gas into her condominium building to kill termites, authorities said...

MICHELLE MORGANTE
Associated Press

Deaths from Vikane fumigation
Note: Information on the number of human deaths as a result of fumigation with Vikane is not accessible. We will add information to this section as we find it.
March 10, 2005

Fault is disputed in death, gassing. Woman was inside a tented building. By Kristen Green. The San Diego Union-Tribune (California).

"State officials said it was apparently the third such death in recent years."

Mentioned in 2002

(page 15)
... Otis Woods, Pioneer Pest Services. " I have a pest control business here or in San Juan up in Dallas, but the situation coming that's up right now about fumigation, we lost a guy who was using Sulfuryl Fluoride, Vikane. It is very dangerous.

(page 23)
Mr. Burnett: Otis, you had mentioned you "lost a guy". He is deceased?
Mr. Woods: Yes.
Mr. Burnett: If I could ask some follow-up questions to you with that. What kind of training had the deceased received?
Mr. Woods: Really the training that he had was just for putting the tarps up. Knowing how to roll the tarps, you know, and sealing the house. He didn't deal with the gases at all.
Mr. Burnett: Okay, and how long had this person been on this type of work?
Mr. Woods: Couple of years.
Mr. Burnett: Couple of years.
Mr. Woods: About two years I believe.

Ref: February 12, 2002. MINUTES. Structural Pest Control Board. Austin, Texas.
Part 1 and Part 2

Cited in 1991 A 25 year old man with postmortem blood alcohol level of 0.156% was found lifeless in a residence that had been fumigated with sulfuryl fluoride under canvas.
Ref: Hayes, W.J., Jr., E.R. Laws, Jr., (eds.). Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology. Volume 2. Classes of Pesticides. New York, NY: Academic Press, Inc., 1991., p. 564.
Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank at Toxnet
September 25, 1986 2 Fatalities Resulting From Sulfuryl Fluoride Exposure After Home Fumigation -- Virginia. Two fatalities occurred when the owners of a home re-entered after the dwelling had been fumigated with 250 pounds of sulfuryl fluoride. The concentration to which the occupants were exposed was not determined. The man died within 24 hr, and the woman expired 6 days after exposure. Signs of intoxication included severe dyspnea, cough, generalized seizure, cardiopulmonary arrest (in the male), and weakness, anorexia, nausea, repeated vomiting, and hypoxemia; ventricular fibrillation and diffuse pulmonary infiltration were also reported in the female.
References:
MMWR, Sept. 18, 1987 and
• American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Inc. Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices. 6th ed. Volumes I, II, III. Cincinnati, OH: ACGIH, 1991., p. 1471 (Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank at Toxnet)
 
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